Elder Caiden Brown New York New York North Mission: August 21, 2015

Familia!!

Hola como esta mi amigos!! El CCM es mucho divertido! I don't know really where to start with this letter!! I guess I will start off by answering some questions that mom had! Haha, Yes mom, we do weekly tie trades, and as zone leader I have to be involved, but I promise you all my ties are looking suppppppeeeeerrrr sickkkkkk!!! It was really fun to talk to the Thomas family during member TRC though!! (TRC stands for "teaching resource center" and that is where you do all the teaching) Obviously, we were supposed to meet with them in Spanish, but because they were my neighbors and I knew they spoke English and I couldn't talk in Spanish, so I just gave them a message in English! Haha! It was really cool to see some familiar faces though!! On p-day, besides write letters, we normally will wake up, go work out for a little bit, eat breakfast, do laundry and write families and friends, go to the temple, relax, eat food and feel the spirit! Class starts at 6 p.m. on p-days. I hope you guys got my letter. Mom, I put some things I need in that letter! You can see AP test scores online, I am pretty sure! And yes, all of my friends email me weekly! :) I hope that covers all the questions!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! to my father and to my brother!! You guys are both so old it is insane!! Dad, I hope you had the best day, and Tanner, same goes for you! I really wish I could be there to celebrate with you all!! But, it sounds like you had a fun time! Make sure you guys send me pictures of everything you are all doing in your busy lives!! LACEE! MESSAGE FOR YOU! BE SAFE! Don't get in any trouble on your daily commutes from SLC! Drive the speed limit and don't get in a crash please!!

Life here at the MTC is pretty repetitive! Basically you go to six hours of class in the morning, teach a few investigators and then have three hours to study at night! Although we do the same things every day, I am still loving it!! We teach this investigator in TRC that is named R___. It is really hard to understand her Spanish because she talks super fast and super soft but we try and get every little detail and come up with a response. The first couple lessons we had with her were kind of rough. We didn't really understand what she was saying so we basically bore our testimonies and got out of there. So, as we prepared our lesson to teach her for the third time, I was pretty skeptical of how it was going to go. I was nervous and frankly, I didn't think I had the Spirit with me. I decided that I needed to say a prayer. I went into my closet, got down on my knees and prayed that the Spirit would be present in our lesson. After we talked about how her week was and how her daughter was, I felt prompted to talk to her about the Book of Mormon, and to ditch the whole lesson we had previously planned. Then, my mouth just started speaking. Who knows if what I was saying even made sense in Spanish, or if I was saying a bunch of random words, but something I do know was that the Spirit was there. After I asked her if she would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, she said she already had and that she knew it was true! WOWWWW, was basically what I was thinking. She said that while she read Ether 12, the chapter we previously told her to read, she felt peace and comfort and that she felt that it was true. They tell us that the Investigators at TRC could either be a member or a real investigator, but we don't know. R___ could be a member or she could not be, but whatever she is, I know that the power of the Spirit touched her life. The Holy Ghost is incredible. Missionary work is not done by the power of the missionary, but the power of the Spirit and that is the most important thing! The gift of tongues is real. I have felt it while I have been here. Just like Philippians 4:13 says, we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!

On Tuesday there was a devotional and Elder Echo Hawk of the seventy spoke. (What a sick last name, am I right?) Well anyway, He talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in missionary work and using it to teach by the Spirit. This is exactly what I needed for R___, and as I said, his message really helped me in my lesson!

A new district came into our zone on Wednesday and they seem like some really good guys!! I am really tight with one of the elders because he knows all the kids on the BYU soccer team, so we spent some time talking about that. Oh, and about BYU..., do you know anything more that is going on there? Like who the new coach is or anything? Just let me know!

Thanks Britt, Wade and family for the letter! I LOVE hearing from the boys! It seriously makes my week! Tell Blake that his Lego creation look soooooo good and that I think he is going to be a professional Lego builder when he grows up! Tell him good luck in 2nd grade! He is so big! Love you guys so much! Keep keeping me updated on everything!

Not much more has gone on this week besides the usual! I promise my letters will be a lot more exciting with stories and stuff when I get out to New York! Love you all so much!! I want to leave you with a scripture... Matthew 7:7-8. The Lord hears us and He answers our prayers. I know that if we pray with a broken heart and contrite spirit He WILL answer us! The Savior lives! He loves you more than you know, more than you can comprehend. Just remember that always!! Pray, read the scriptures, love our Savior, and the Church is true!!

Much Love, Elder Brown!